Saturday, July 27, 2002 3:02 AM
 
Modern Pre-empting

PITBULLS:

      Finely tuned partnership understandings are the only defense against opponents whose mission is to destroy by swinging tactics . Suicidal pre-empts are a popular tactic for certain types of players who have a strong club game background. Certain misguided players will argue until they are blue in the face that it is correct in IMPs to pre-empt 1st seat vul vrs not with x Kxx KJxxxxx xxx .  Maurice described this pre-empting style to me this way. If you are in 1st seat there are 3 possible players you can get LHO , RHO and partner so its 2 to 1 in favour of a making this kind of pre-empt. In 2nd seat he said its more risky as there has been one passed hand so its 50-50  ( partner or RHO that you “get” ) . Maurice freely admits that partner is fair game in this “style” . I hate this style  with a passion as I feel partner should be preserved at all costs in the game of Bridge. However , I do acknowledge many players  have the same “style” as Maurice do exist.

          What to do  about it ? Here is my suggestion.

    
Suicidal Pre-empts at the 3 level vul vrs not or 2 level any vul

    The purpose of these bids are to be entirely destructive for players like Osama , Maurice & Cabay. The entire Gartaganis team & Peter Jones have bought into this “religion” also.  They may have a good suit or a bad suit or outside stuff or not outside stuff, a 6 or 7 or 8 card suit . They are not interested in getting to their own correct spots and it would be hit and miss for them if they did. They do not respect vulnerability and have a “catch me if you can mentality” . They make these bids in 1st or 2Nd seat so partner is not a consideration.

There are tons of defenses invented for bad pre-empts . Fishbien , Smith &  Weiss are the most popular . With Fishbien the cheapest overcall is for takeout and double is for penalty . With Smith the cheapest club bid is for takeout and double is for penalty and Weiss is cheapest minor for take-out and double for penalty/NT hands . These apply in the direct seat only and not in the balancing .

My opinion , if the opponents have light pre-empts marked on their card or have a "reputation" ,   play one of the 3 gadgets above . I like the cheapest minor for take-out ( Weiss)  as that keeps the natural 3 and 3 overcalls in effect . I like Weiss for weak two’s an any vulnerability and at the 3 level only if they are vul and you are not. You only lose on some minor overcalls which does not seem to be a big loss to me . Dbl for penalty with defensive hands and 3NT overcalls with long minors ( to play) come with the territory .

Playing one of the gadgets makes balancing easier as partner does not have a stack in the pre-empters suits with outside values also . Partner does not have bend over backwards and double with 9 points in the balancing seat . She is bidding her own hand and not protecting anybody. There are some positives in playing one of these gadgets so I recommend you adopt one of them to play against known "bad pre-empters" .

These tools are designed for suicidal weak two’s. Cheapest minor means at the two level , clubs will always be for take-out except after the Polish/Precision 2♣ where diamonds are for T/O. These players really abuse these 2♣ openers from my experience. After 3 level vul pre-empts by them , cheapest minor for takeout means clubs in all cases except after a 3♣ pre-empt where diamonds take over.

Given the pre-empting style of many players of the Maurice ilk , I would like to adopt cheapest minor for takeout. Against sound pre-empters , it does not hurt to have this T/O understanding anyway. The odds of partner converting for penalty is minimal,  therefore you just lose the 3♣ overcall after a weak two. We play Roman jump overcalls over weak twos and Q bids for NT game tries so we can always manufacture something with clubs . A gambling 2NT or 3NT ?

Playing cheaper minor for takeout means that this T/O bid has an upper limit. If you are very strong , Q bid instead. They open 2 and you have AKxx x Axxx Kxxx you bid 3♣ for takeout. You hold AKxx x AKxx AKJx bid 3 instead. Partner is allowed to pass 3♣ or 4♣ for T/O if she holds clubs . If you can not stand this , do not make the bid !!

The Weiss double is not just a trump stack in their suit. It is a NT overcall in values ( 14+ ) and not a command to pass. If you just have a trump stack in their suit and nothing else , the green card is still the accepted action. Playing this style ,  a 2NT or 3NT overcall is always based on playability. Playing against Polish 2♣ and similar bids , play Weiss also . A double is a NT overcall / penalty orientated and 2 is T/O. If you pull the double it is not forward going . This is a very rare auction as a pass will always be the common action.

Playing Weiss solves the age old problem of handling strong NT hands or better after pre-empts. A double describes this hand type immediately and quantitative bidding can take place with the vulnerability being wrong. 2♣-X-P-4NT means we are vul against nv and a quantitative try for 6NT. Think NT hands when partner doubles so 4NT is not for the minors or something silly. Against weak 2’s you have a choice to describe your flat hand -  double or 2NT. Obviously the strength in their suit will govern your decision but you do have an option to describe the same hand type.

Anyway , against pre-empts put the Weiss convention on your card. Double for penalty helps level the playing field for weak twos. With pre-empts at the 3 level , Weiss is a bit clumsy.  At the 3 level , play Weiss only on one vulnerability . They are vul and you are not. On all other vulnerabilities at the 3 level ,  we revert to standard T/O understandings.